It is well known that the type and amount of light from a light source can variably effect people, both physiologically and psychologically. For example, depending on the desired mood and behavior of people in a room, the type of lighting and the amount of light in the room can be adjusted to achieve the desired mood and behavior from the people in the room. This has been historically done in settings such as in a hospital waiting room or treatment room, in a restaurant dining area, or in a romantic setting of a private home.
However, in each of these cases, the adjustment of light is pre-set, meaning that the output of emitted light is adjusted to a level in hopes of directing or causing a person to behave in a particular way or to reach a desired mood. Unfortunately, the reality of human psychology and physiology is that a person's autonomic nervous system can be affected or triggered very quickly and by a host of other factors. The result is that these existing environments simply cannot adjust to the person's changing physiology and psychology in real time.
This is particularly unfortunate because in today's world, people are not only effected by room or environment lighting, but also by significant use of lighted visual displays integrated into devices such as televisions, computers and phones. For example, it is believed that blue light impairs sleep when digital display screens are used around bedtime. However, there is no system available that can adjust the level or output of blue light to match the real-time physiological state of a subject viewing the digital display as the subject becomes ready for sleep. In another example, it is believed that hyper-stimulation from visual displays can potentially cause photosensitive epilepsy, due to the movement of images on the screen and the bright flashing of light on the screen. However, there is no system available that can adjust the intensity or color temperature of output light to reduce such undesired neurological effects.
Unfortunately, there is no system to take advantage of the highly adjustable output of current lighting and display devices based on real time detection of a person's activity or emotional state. The present invention addresses this need.